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Have you looked on the Internet? There is a great amount of things out there for doing this: -) Arduino (arduino.cc): produce open source electronic gadgets,

Have you looked on the Internet? There is a great amount of things out there for doing this: -) Arduino (arduino.cc): produce open source electronic gadgets, often DIY and customizable (might spark his interest, as many gadgets are also fun to use: e.g. tv-b-gone (only building, but fun to use) -) Lego (http://mindstorms.lego.com http://mindstorms.lego.com) Very easy approach to programming especially designed for children -) Scratch programming Language (http://scratch.mit.edu/ http://scratch.mit.edu/) Easy to learn programming language especially designed for children (Age 6 and upwards) and btw: don't forget your own motivation If you are willing to teach him in an interesting manner (and in my experience kids can be motivated to take a shine toward anything if it's done with a great approach), then i can even imagine that he might have fun playing around with html, setting up just4fun websites (just don't allow him to do so on the web ;).

BonsaiDen 14y ago
I could see Mindstorms working out really great :) Or just any sort of "simple" 3D game engine. I think it's important that he sees immediate results, he can learn the gritty details over time, having the actual feeling of creating something is a big motivator. At least it was for me, back when I was like 12 and started out on my own, surprisingly I remember being way more productive back then I think I once wrote a really decent cannon hill clone in a week or so, but today I can hardly get any project started at all, meh.
kaghaffa 14y ago
I definitely looked into Scratch and it seems perfect since the visual aspect would help him out a lot. But I never looked into Lego Mindstorms! This looks awesome (and even I got a little excited as well). I'm pretty sure this is what I'll be going with since he loves Legos already. Thanks for the response!
- ari_elle 14y ago
  Glad i could help Happy hacking :)
dirktheman 14y ago
Second on Arduino, it's just so much fun, you get inmediate results and you learn about both hardware and software. It should be doable for a 10 y/o: http://sylviashow.com/episodes/s1/e3/full/arduino http://sylviashow.com/episodes/s1/e3/full/arduino

BonsaiDen 14y ago

I could see Mindstorms working out really great :) Or just any sort of "simple" 3D game engine. I think it's important that he sees immediate results, he can learn the gritty details over time, having the actual feeling of creating something is a big motivator. At least it was for me, back when I was like 12 and started out on my own, surprisingly I remember being way more productive back then I think I once wrote a really decent cannon hill clone in a week or so, but today I can hardly get any project started at all, meh.

kaghaffa 14y ago

I definitely looked into Scratch and it seems perfect since the visual aspect would help him out a lot. But I never looked into Lego Mindstorms! This looks awesome (and even I got a little excited as well). I'm pretty sure this is what I'll be going with since he loves Legos already. Thanks for the response!

ari_elle 14y ago
Glad i could help Happy hacking :)

dirktheman 14y ago

Second on Arduino, it's just so much fun, you get inmediate results and you learn about both hardware and software. It should be doable for a 10 y/o: http://sylviashow.com/episodes/s1/e3/full/arduino http://sylviashow.com/episodes/s1/e3/full/arduino